Process Safety Management - a Prerequisite for Sustainable Gas Production

The LNG industry enjoys a commendable track record in reliability and safety. There is however no reason to be complacent, as we can learn from various major hazard accidents across the energy industry (e.g. Piper Alpha, Texas City, Macondo), which regretfully resulted in fatalities, asset damage and had environmental impact. LNG operations may be similarly vulnerable to major incidents if hazards are not properly managed. Root causes for major accidents are often complex in nature. They are related to a series of interlinked failures in mechanical, human judgment, engineering design, operational implementation and team interfaces. To avoid such incidents, we must translate learning into effective barriers, aimed at reducing risk to acceptable levels. This article will share some insights on how this is done in Shell.